EX  LIBKIS  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


JOHN  HEW  NASH 


SAN  FRANCISCO  <8> 

PRESENTED  TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


ROBERT  GORDON  SPRQUL,  PRESIDENT. 
BY" 


MR.ANDMRS.M1LTON  S.RAY 
CECILY,  VIRGINIA ANDROSALYN  RAY 

AND  THE 

RAY  OIL  BURNER  COMPANY 


EDWIN  KLEBER  WOOD 


"FATHER"  IN  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTEEN.  TAKEN 

IN  THE  YARD  OF  OUR  SON  FRED'S  HOME  AT 

SOUTH  BELLINGHAM,  WASHINGTON 


A  SKETCH 

OF  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 
EDWIN  KLEBER  WOOD  • 

BY 

MARIANS.  WOOD 
HIS  WIFE 


T 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED 

BY  JOHN  HENRY  NASH 

SAN  FRANCISCO 

1918 


THAT  OUR  GRANDCHILDREN  MAY  KNOW 

SOMETHING  OF  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  THEIR 

GRANDFATHER,  I  HAVE  WRITTEN 

FOR  THEM  THIS  LITTLE 

SKETCH. 


EDWIN  KLEBER  WOOD  was  the  only 
son  of  Cheney  and  Laura  Brown  Wood, 
and  was  born  in  Eagle,  Wyoming  County, 
New  York,  February  17, 1840.  "Father"— as  I 
always  called  him— had  two  sisters,— Helen,  the 
wife  of  Peter  Lucas,  and  Theresa,  the  wife  of  Rob- 
ert Wallace.  His  boyhood  was  spent  at  Gaines- 
ville, New  York,  on  a  farm,  and  his  education  was 
obtained  in  a  district  school  and  at  Pike  Semin- 
ary,locatedat  Pike,  WyomingCounty,New York. 

In  1861  he  entered  the  Civil  War  as  a  private 
in  Company  K,  Seventeenth  New  York  Volun- 
teer Infantry.  During  the  war  he  was  wounded 
at  Hanover  Court  House.  He  served  until  the 
regiment  was  dismissed  from  service,  being  dis- 
charged June  2, 1863,  as  Corporal. 

After  he  returned  from  the  war  he  taught  for 
a  short  time  in  district  schools  in  the  townships 

[i] 


of  Pike  and  Gainesville,  but  he  was  restless  and 
wanted  to  go  West,  where  he  felt  a  young  man 
would  have  greater  opportunities. 

In  1865  he  started  for  Iowa  to  engage  in  the 
industry  of  sheep-raising.  On  the  train  he  met 
Mr.  Stanton  (for  whom  Stanton,  Michigan,  is 
named) ,  who  persuaded  him  to  visit  Stanton  with 
the  idea  of  settling  there.  Father  was  so  pleased 
with  the  outlook  that  he  decided  to  remain  in- 
stead of  going  on  to  Iowa.  Here  he  taught  in  the 
Union  School,  returning  to  Gainesville  for  a  few 
months  the  latter  part  of  1866. 

On  January  30, 1867,  Father  and  I  were  mar- 
ried at  my  father's  home  at  East  Pike.  There  had 
been  a  heavy  snow-storm  which  blocked  the  roads 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  impossible  for  sleighs 
to  make  their  way  through  the  snow-drifts.  Father 
was  therefore  obliged  to  walk  from  Castile,  a  dis- 
tance of  five  miles,  picking  his  way  as  well  as  he 
could  over  the  drifts.  His  parents  and  sister  Helen 
were  unable  to  come,  on  account  of  the  impassa- 
ble roads.  The  minister  who  married  us  came  on 
horseback.  Our  wedding  was  a  very  quiet  one, 

[2] 


PICTURES  TAKEN  SHORTLY  BEFORE  OUR  MARRIAGE 


only  my  father  and  mother,  my  brother  Clarence, 
the  minister, and  a  neighbor, Mrs.  George  Knapp, 
who  had  come  to  help  during  the  day,  being  pres- 
ent. We  were  married  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. My  mother  .was  in  bed  all  day  with  a  severe 
headache,  and  I  cooked  the  turkey  dinner.  Father 
and  I  spent  the  night  at  my  home,  the  following 
day  going  to  visit  Father's  parents  at  Gainesville. 

In  a  few  days  we  left  for  Stanton.  Upon  reach- 
ing there  we  began  our  married  life  in  a  small 
house  standing  on  a  little  piece  of  ground  which 
had  been  cleared  by  Father.  All  around  us  was  a 
dense  pine  forest.  In  the  yard  were  several  stumps. 
One,  directly  in  front  of  our  front  door,  we  had 
to  walk  over  in  order  to  get  into  the  yard. 

Our  house  stood  by  itself,  perhaps  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  from  the  Union  Schoolhouse  and  the  other 
half-dozen  houses  which  at  that  time  made  up 
the  town.  There  were  footpaths  in  the  town  but 
no  roads.  One  of  these  paths  led  to  our  house. 
The  house  was  composed  of  a  sitting-room,  two 
bedrooms,  and  a  "lean-to"  kitchen.  In  one  of  the 
bedrooms  was  a  cupboard  in  which  food  was  kept. 

[4] 


The  "lean-to"  was  so  low  that  it  was  impossible 
to  stand  ered:  in  it.  Theresa,  Father's  sister,  who 
had  been  teaching  in  Stanton  and  had  kept  house 
for  Father,  was  living  in  the  house  when  we  re- 
turned and  remained  with  us  for  a  year,  when 
she  was  married  to  Robert  Wallace.  There  was 
no  church  in  the  town.  However,  every  Sunday 
morning  religious  services  were  conducted  in  the 
schoolhouse  by  ministers  from  various  denomina- 
tions, and  about  twenty-five  residents  attended. 
The  small  organ  in  the  schoolhouse  was  played 
by  Theresa. 

Before  Father  left  Stanton  for  New  York,  he 
and  Giles  Gilbert,  a  boyhood  friend  who  was  with 
Father  in  the  war,  had  taken  a  contract  for  the 
State  road  extending  five  miles  north  from  Stan- 
ton  through  the  pine  forest.  Building  this  road 
meant  pioneering  in  the  stridest  sense  of  the  word. 
It  was  necessary  to  employ  several  men  to  help  in 
cutting  down  the  trees  and  in  laying  the  "cordu- 
roy" road,  so  called  because  of  the  resemblance 
to  corduroy  of  the  rails  of  which  the  road  was 
built.  For  the  accommodation  of  the  men  em- 

[6] 


ployed  on  the  road  Father  and  Giles  put  up  a  gen- 
eral provision  and  merchandise  store,  hauling  the 
supplies  twenty-two  miles  from  Ionia,  with  an  ox- 
team.  After  the  road  was  completed  Father  and 
Giles  built  a  lumber  mill  at  Derby  Lake,  two  miles 
from  Stanton.  The  products  from  the  mill  were 
taken  to  Ionia  by  an  ox-team.  About  this  time 
Father  and  Giles  purchased  a  cranberry  marsh. 
On  this  marsh  thirty  boys  and  girls  picked  three 
hundred  barrels  of  cranberries  during  the  one 
season  which  we  owned  the  marsh,  and  every  day 
the  children  worked  we  gave  them  their  lunches. 

On  July  2, 1869,  our  first  child,  Frederick  John, 
was  born. 

In  1870  we  moved  to  Sherman  City,  where 
Father  had  built  a  grocery  store.  To  make  the  jour- 
ney, it  was  necessary  to  drive  forty  miles  through 
an  unbroken  country.  With  our  year-and-a-half- 
old  baby  we  left  Stanton  early  in  the  morning,  in 
a  two-horse  lumber  wagon.  The  road  was  ex- 
tremely rough  and  the  baby  cried  constantly.  His 
father  was  therefore  obliged  to  walk  and  carry 
the  baby  in  his  arms.  Now  and  then  we  changed 


our  occupation,  Father  driving  the  team,  and  I 
walking  and  carrying  the  baby.  Carefully  picking 
our  way  over  stumps  and  logs,  we  finally  reached 
Sherman  City  but  late  at  night.  We  began  our 
life  here  in  a  two-story  house  of  two  rooms— a 
living-room  below  and  a  bedroom  above— which 
Father  had  built  before  we  left  Stanton.  Immedi- 
ately he  ereded  a  store,  placing  Amos  Johnson,  a 
young  boy  from  Wyoming  County,  New  York, 
in  charge.  In  putting  up  the  store,  we  had  a  "rais- 
ing," twenty-five  or  thirty  men  helping  us.  Estelle 
Johnson,  Amos's  wife,  and  I  prepared  the  dinner 
for  them. 

We  were  certainly  living  in  the  wilds.  All  around 
Sherman  City  were  Indians  who  often  came  to 
the  store  to  "swap"  berries  for  flour.  One  day 
Father  shot  a  deer  from  the  store  door.  I  also  re- 
member that  one  morning  a  baby  bear  leisurely 
wandered  into  the  store.  Amos  and  Mr.  Ellis, 
who  owned  the  boarding-house,  petted  "Cub," 
as  the  bear  was  at  once  named,  and  he  soon  came 
to  feel  at  home  with  us.  In  the  daytime  he  stayed 
in  the  store  and  at  night  was  tied  outside. 

[8] 


During  the  year  a  cyclone  occurred  which  car- 
ried goods  of  all  kinds  from  the  store  out  into  the 
woods  and  surrounding  country.  A  child  in  a 
neighbor's  house  was  swung  across  the  room  and 
landed  on  a  hook  in  the  wall,  hanging  there  by 
his  clothes.  A  gust  of  wind  blew  open  two  doors 
in  Amos  Johnson's  house  and  carried  the  iron 
tea-kettle  from  the  kitchen,  through  one  of  the 
open  doors,  several  feet  away,  to  the  yard  outside. 
During  the  storm  pine  trees  were  laid  low,  resem- 
bling grain  when  cut  by  a  cradle  or  a  harvester. 

In  about  two  years  we  returned  to  Stanton. 

On  May  6, 1871 ,  our  little  girl,  Blandie  Theresa, 
was  born.  She  lived  only  three  months,  passing 
away  August  2ist. 

Our  Stanton  store  had  gradually  increased  its 
business  and  by  1874  was  carrying  a  full  line  of 
drugs  and  groceries.  Father  now  had  so  many 
interests  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  have  more 
assistance.  He  therefore  asked  my  brother  Clar- 
ence to  help  him  in  the  store  at  Stanton.  The 
business  association  thus  begun  between  the  two 
continued,  with  the  exception  of  two  years  spent 

[10] 


by  my  brother  in  Kansas,  to  the  time  of  Father's 
death.  As  the  years  passed.  Father  more  and  more 
relied  upon  my  brother's  judgment,  and  gradu- 
ally placed  in  my  brother's  hands  the  details  of 
the  business. 

On  June  23,  1875,  our  second  son,  Walter 
Thayer,  was  born. 

During  this  year  Father  bought  a  mill,— later 
known  as  "Wood's  Mill,"  between  Stanton  and 
McBride.  The  land  in  this  locality  from  which 
trees  were  cut  and  manufactured  in  the  mill  into 
lumber  and  shingles  is  now  divided  up  into  val- 
uable farms. 

In  1880  Mr.  Orsen  M.  Kellogg  began  working 
for  Father  at  Wood's  Mill,  six  years  later  coming 
to  Washington,  where  he  has  been  with  the  firm 
ever  since. 

About  1884,  Mr.  Spencer  E.  Slade,  who  had 
been  with  Father  in  our  Stanton  store,  came  to 
Washington  to  look  into  timber  investments,  a 
short  time  later  coming  to  San  Francisco  and 
opening  an  office  at  18  Market  Street  under  the 
name  of  "S.  E.  Skde  and  Company." 

[12] 


Father  made  several  trips  to  the  Pacific  Coast 
about  this  time  and  invested  quite  heavily  in  fir 
timber  in  Washington. 

Father  had  become  interested  in  civic  matters, 
and  in  1885  he  was  elected  on  the  Republican 
ticket  as  Representative  from  the  First  District  of 
Montcalm  County  to  the  Michigan  State  Legis- 
lature, receiving  2,156  votes  to  i  ,8o7cast  for  Aaron 
B.  Brown,  the  Fusion  candidate. 

After  Father  returned  from  the  Legislature  we 
moved  to  our  farm  at  McBride.  Shortly  after- 
wards Father  bought  the  "Windsor  Mill"  at  Mc- 
Bride. For  several  years  he  gave  his  attention  to 
manufacturing  lumber  in  this  mill,  and  also  to 
running  a  branch  store  at  McBride,  under  the 
name  of  "Wood  and  Thayer." 

In  1888  my  brother  joined  our  Company  in 
San  Francisco.  A  short  time  afterwards  the  Com- 
pany opened  a  wholesale  lumber  yard  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, at  the  foot  of  Spear  Street. 

About  1889  our  son  Fred  entered  Father's  busi- 
ness. He  and  Father  bought  the  "Townline  Lake 
Mill"  and  Fred  remained  in  charge  until  1891, 

[13] 


when  the  property  was  sold  and  Fred  became  one 
of  our  force  in  San  Francisco. 

In  1890  the  Company  built  at  Hoquiam,  Wash- 
ington, the  first  of  our  ships,  the  schooner  E.  K. 
Woody  a  four-mast  sailing  vessel. 

In  1891  we  moved  from  McBride  to  Oakland. 

In  1892  Father  bought  a  mill  at  Hoquiam, 
which  ever  since  has  been  operated  by  the  Com- 
pany. 

In  1895  the  "E.  K.  Wood  Lumber  Company" 
was  incorporated  in  San  Francisco,  with  offices  at 
10  California  Street,  where  ever  since  the  firm  has 
carried  on  a  wholesale  business.  On  account, 
however,  of  the  renumbering  of  streets  after  the 
earthquake  and  fire,  in  1906,  the  office  address 
was  changed  to  112  Market  Street.  Father  was 
eleded  president  at  the  time  of  the  Company's  in- 
corporation and  held  the  position  until  his  death. 

Shortly  after  its  incorporation  the  Company 
opened  a  wholesale  yard  at  Redondo,  California, 
later  moving  to  San  Pedro,  and  opening  a  yard 
in  Los  Angeles. 

In  1900  Father  bought  a  saw-mill  at  Bellingham, 

[14] 


FROM  A  GROUP  PICTURE  TAKEN 

AT  OUR  "GOLDEN  WEDDING"  AT  PASTORTS  HOTEL 
AT  FAIRFAX 


Washington,  our  son  Fred  moving  there  to  take 
charge.  Afterwards  Father  purchased  considera- 
ble fir  timber  in  that  vicinity. 

In  1900,  also,  our  son  Walter  became  one  of  the 
force  in  our  San  Francisco  office. 

In  1904  we  moved  from  Oakland  to  San  Fran- 
cisco. We  remained  there  a  year,  when  we  moved 
to  San  Rafael  and  stayed  there  about  a  year. 

In  1906  the  firm  closed  out  their  wholesale  yard 
in  San  Francisco.  Later  they  moved  to  a  new  lo- 
cation in  Oakland,  and  also  opened  yards  at  San 
Anselmo  and  San  Rafael.  Our  business  had 
gradually  grown,  and  at  the  time  Father  passed 
away  about  a  thousand  men  were  employed  by 
the  firm  and  a  dozen  vessels  controlled  by  it. 

In  this  year  also  we  built  our  present  home  at 
San  Anselmo. 

While  we  were  living  in  East  Oakland  Father 
and  I  joined  the  Brooklyn  Presbyterian  Church. 
From  then  until  he  passed  away  he  was  active  in 
church  work  and  was  interested  in  the  Presby- 
terian Orphanage  and  Farm  at  San  Anselmo. 

On  January  30, 1917,  we  celebrated  our  fiftieth 

[16] 


m 
m 


D 

1 

m 


wedding  anniversary.  Several  times  we  had  spo- 
ken of  observing  the  day,  but  Father  had  been  so 
miserable  during  the  winter  that  we  had  aban- 
doned the  idea.  As  the  time  drew  near  our  chil- 
dren insisted  that  if  their  father  felt  at  all  equal 
to  meeting  a  little  group  of  relatives  and  friends, 
the  celebration  must  take  place.  Father  at  last 
consented,  and  afterwards  was  glad  that  the  chil- 
dren had  taken  matters  into  their  own  hands. 
Many  times  during  the  following  months  of  his 
illness  he  expressed  his  enjoyment  of  the  occasion 
and  his  appreciation  of  the  various  gifts  and  mes- 
sages which  we  received.  On  account  of  his  con- 
dition we  did  not  feel  that  we  could  hold  the 
celebration  at  our  home,  and  instead  had  our 
dinner  and  little  reception  at  Pastori's  Hotel  at 
Fairfax. 

During  the  last  three  years  of  his  life  Father 
was  far  from  well,  having  several  severe  illnesses, 
and  gradually  grew  weaker,  until  he  passed  away 
from  a  serious  stomach  trouble  on  July  30, 1917. 

The  funeral  service  was  held  at  our  home  in 
San  Anselmo  on  Wednesday,  August  ist,  with 

[18] 


an  attendance  of  many  friends  from  the  Bay  re- 
gion and  the  employees  of  the  Company  in  San 
Francisco,  San  Rafael  and  San  Anselmo,  who 
came  in  a  body.  Our  pastor,  the  Rev.  Charles  L. 
Duncan,  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  San 
Anselmo,  and  Dr.  Warren  H.  Landon,  president 
of  the  San  Francisco  Theological  Seminary  at 
San  Anselmo,  conducted  the  service.  On  Sunday, 
August  5th,  a  memorial  service  was  held  for 
Father  in  our  church. 

We  received  many  telegrams  and  letters  of  con- 
dolence from  family  friends  and  business  associ- 
ates of  Father's,  and  memorials  from  various  firms. 

Of  all  the  messages  of  sympathy  and  esteem 
none  was  more  gratifying  to  me  than  the  follow- 
ing paragraph  from  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
the  Douglas  Fir  Club : 

"  In  all  the  varied  relations  of  his  adive  life  he  earned  the 
esteem  of  his  associates  by  his  quiet  gentleness  and  reserve 
force,  his  fairness  and  generosity.  He  translated  into  the  terms 
of  every-day  life  his  ideals  of  justice,  faith,  duty  and  honor." 

Or  this,  from  The  Pioneer  Western  Lumberman 
of  August  1,1917: 

[19] 


"  No  firm  has  a  higher  standing  for  honor  and  integrity 
than  the  E.  K.Wood  Lumber  Company,  of  which  E.  K.  Wood 
was  the  founder  and  adive  manager  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century." 

In  writing  this  sketch  I  have  wanted  our  grand- 
children to  know  something  of  the  life  and  work 
of  their  grandfather.  As  I  look  back  over  our 
fifty  years  and  six  months  of  life  together,— years 
in  which  a  discordant  note  never  entered,— I  find 
it  difficult  to  express  in  a  few  words  Father's 
strongest  characteristics.  While  he  was  always  en- 
grossed in  his  business,  yet  he  was  never  too  busy 
to  see  his  friends  or  to  be  of  help  to  others.  His 
reserve,  gentleness,  kindness,  honesty,  genuine- 
ness, unostentatiousness,  strong  sense  of  justice, 
and  his  consideration  for  others  are  some  of  the 
characteristics  which  those  who  knew  him  best 
remember. 


[20] 


HSVN 


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